Noteflight - is way better than I could have imagined!

Recently I took a Technology in Music Education class as part of my Masters program. I had used MuseScore and Noteflight, but only in small bits. My musical colleague Kayla Schmitz has been using it with her students and suggested that I really start using it more. I did this for my high schoolers! It has been great. The site is below. I inputted "April is in my Mistress' Face" by Thomas Morley. Now, like many others, I have piano skills, but it's nice to get out from behind the piano and direct. Noteflight allows students the opportunity to view my piece (that I have semi-transcribe into Noteflight), they can also select specific parts to isolate to aid in part singing. I have found that students can lead their own sectionals - without having to be a piano player!! Woot!!

The free subscription to Noteflight only allows 10 scores, so Kayla suggested that I export to Music XML which allows this to be opened in either Finale, Sibelius, or MuseScore. MuseScore is a free music notation system download. One can also download to a MIDI file so the student could basically have a mp3 version of the piece, and so can the director so they can continue to direct. This allows the teacher to delete the score from Noteflight and opens up a spot for another selection.

Noteflight: http://www.noteflight.com

MuseScore: http://www.musescore.org

Composer Birthdays!

As a general music teacher I think composer/musician birthdays are really cool and fun to share with my students! Here's a link to a pdf version of Composer's Calendar - http://www.musick8.com/PDF/ComposersCalendar2014.pdf

The Nutcracker

The week before Winter Break brings excitement and the thought of the Nutcracker. At this site you can read an interactive story with your students. I project it on the board and have them follow along while I read. This meets the "listening to reading" idea in reading.

http://www.abt.org/nutcracker/index.html

Check it out and enjoy! I've found YouTube videos to add to the experience of the different dances. When talking to boys about music after elementary I find that they think it's too girly or not macho enough. I point out the strength training they have to do and how much control they have to possess in ballet.

Nelson Mandela

This past week we lost a humanitarian by the name of Nelson Mandela. The National Association for Music Education posted on Twitter this link from NPR Music which shares his life through music. Could be a very powerful culture piece. n.pr/18qgdAw 

Mendeley - Students of all ages!!

Okay guys! This post has my nerdiness at an all time high. Mendeley is a free download that allows you to save articles and other papers (ones that you have written). The next part is really cool. Are you ready? It's going to be legend wait for it... ary! Here you can save your articles - it will cite them for you and you can also upload your papers. It will cite those and create a bibliography or works cited page for you! I just downloaded it today, so there will be more to come, but check it out. This has the capability to collaborate with others in your discipline!

Click here to check it out!

Overcoming stage fright

Edutopia had an article referring to stage fright and education students. I know that even as a semi experienced teacher I get nervous before a big class/observation/or a presentation. I also know that my students get the same way before performing at a solo contest. The article gave 9 tips to overcome this stage fright and trick our brain into almost "faked confidence". When I'm teaching I use the phrase "Fake it till you make it" - meaning that nerves can get in the way, but you you have to perform like you intended to make any mistake and that you stay in the character of the piece.

Here is the link to their page - http://www.edutopia.org/blog/overcoming-classroom-stage-fright-todd-finley

If you want to, perhaps you should consider teaching confidence and techniques to create confidence.

Virtual Choir

Eric Whitacre is known for his compositions and most recently has been known for his Virtual Choirs. Via TED talk you can hear Mr. Whitacre speak about his Virtual Choir project and shows examples. In this video you can see a live virtual choir through the use of Skype and a live choir. This is a crazy thing to do thinking of the chance of delay and other uncontrollable features.

Click here for the TED Talk.

To take this a step further, my choirs struggled with the thought of singing a foreign language. Thank goodness I found Mr. Whitacre's virtual choir of the piece Sleep. Here he is the sun - heliocentric, with orbs/planets representing different countries with different singers. They are all connected through a golden thread that flows from one planet to another. I shared the though that people in Italy don't sing English... Nor do people in Germany - why can't we sing in a different language... Silence! It was perfect!

Click here for Sleep by Eric Whitacre.

Other Virtual Choir performances are available. Most recently he has composed a piece "Fly to Paradise" that he invited individuals to participate in. We recorded videos and uploaded them. To do this we would record a video of us singing the part and listening to the whole group via tracks through ear buds. This was such a cool thing to be a part of. This piece has been remixed and put into so many different forms.

Click here for Fly to Paradise by Eric Whitacre